


Happily Ever After

by complicationstoo



Series: Ice Prince [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicationstoo/pseuds/complicationstoo
Summary: A collection of short and sweet ficlets within the Ice Prince universe, focusing on Steve and Tony's life with their kids.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Ice Prince [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592455
Comments: 19
Kudos: 88





	1. Late Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This work will include various scenes with Steve and Tony's kids, covering a range of ages and moments. They'll probably all be 500-1.5k words, which is why they're being posted as chapters, rather than as their own fics.
> 
> Let me know what you think, or if there's anything you'd like to see here! I'm always open for suggestions :)

Steve wakes up feeling cold, missing the usual weight of Tony slung over him. He reaches blindly into the space next to him, but comes up with nothing but a handful of silk sheets. Sitting up, he checks the clock on the nightstand. The blue numbers say it’s a little after four in the morning, which can only mean one thing these days.

He sighs as he tosses back the blanket and gets out of bed. His muscles protest the movement, still sore from preseason drills. It’s his own fault for slacking so much during the offseason, he knows, but he doesn’t regret it. He had a good reason.

Walking down the hallway, he stops just outside of the nursery when he hears Tony’s voice. He leans in the doorway, content to watch his husband slowly pace the room with their son in his arms. Theo must have been crying at one point, but he’s since calmed to quiet hiccups. 

Tony’s voice is just above a whisper, and Steve strains himself to hear the words. It takes him a moment to realize they aren’t actually words at all. 

His laugh is unintentional, and Tony manages not to disturb Theo too much when he jumps at the sudden noise.

“Are you telling our son equations right now?” 

Tony smiles at him, then down at the bundle in his arms, “He likes it.”

Steve takes a step into the room, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist from behind. He kisses Tony’s cheek and rests his chin on his shoulder to look down at their son. 

It’s amazing, he thinks, to be able to say those words.  _ Our son.  _ Some kind of miracle not only that this beautiful baby exists, but that he’s actually theirs somehow. He’s theirs to comfort in the middle of the night, theirs to protect and hold and give all the love in the world. They get to watch him grow up, hear his first words and little laugh, witness his first wobbly steps. A lifetime of firsts and big moments, but also all the little ones like this. 

“I think he just likes the sound of your voice,” Steve whispers.

“You think so?”

“I know I do.”

Theo’s eyes are closed now, hiccups giving way to sleep, but they don’t put him down just yet. They stand there in the middle of the nursery, rocking slowly together and memorizing every detail of Theo’s perfect face. 

With surrogacy, they chose to keep the chances of being the father even for both of them, but Steve doesn’t mind at all that he’s obviously biologically Tony’s. So many of his features are so clearly Tony, from the shape of his nose to the curve of his lips. If his eyes were open, it would be like a mirror image of the brown and gold he sees in Tony’s.

Steve can’t wait to see what else of his husband’s their son will inherit. He already sees the same wide-eyed curiosity and inquisitive stare. He likes to imagine the future with Tony teaching him things in the lab, passing on a love for science and invention. 

Or maybe he won’t like that at all, and they’ll both support that, too. Whatever passions and interests he has, they’ll be there for. There’s so many things he wants to do, so many experiences that he wants his son to have. 

Steve pictures him on skates for the first time or tossing wiffle balls back and forth. He sees fingerpainting at the kitchen table, baking cookies that turn out wrong, and reading books together before bed. He knows already that he’ll cry on Theo’s first day of kindergarten, but he’ll love watching him make friends and learn about the world. 

“What are you thinking about?” Tony asks.

“The future.”

“Yeah? What’s going to happen?”

Steve smiles, “I don’t know, but it’s going to be amazing.”

“We should probably get some sleep,” Tony says reluctantly. 

Steve holds him a little tighter, kissing his cheek again. “Just a few more minutes.”

Tony nods, “A few more minutes.”


	2. Ice Skating Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene has been in my head for about eight months now, and I finally managed to get it out! Let me know what you think :)

“Oh my God, that is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Tony says as he walks over to the bench where Steve is kneeling on the ground, lacing up Theo’s ice skates. Noah is in Tony’s arms, little fingers playing with the button on his shirt, and their three year old is sitting on the bench, covered in safety gear. Pads are protecting his knees and elbows, and a helmet covers his dark curls. That would be cute enough on it’s own, but the little Islanders jersey with “Stark-Rogers” on the back tips it right over the edge. 

Steve grins, “Isn’t it?”

Theo plays with the velcro strap on his elbow pad, sticking and unsticking it repeatedly while Steve finishes with the left skate and moves onto the right. Tony sits down next to him, adjusting Noah to comfortably sit on his lap, and pokes Theo’s cheek to receive his toothy smile. 

“You excited to skate, bud?”

Theo nods, overexaggerated movements that make him look like a bobblehead, “Uh huh. Papa gonna teach me.”

“That’s right, he is,” Tony beams. “And he’s gonna be a very good teacher. He taught me, too.”

It’s strange to think of that memory now, one of their early dates when Steve pulled him around the ice of the practice facility. He never could have imagined that one day they would end up here, with a kid of their own to pass it on to. Well, for Steve to pass it on to. Tony never quite got the hang of it, and Theo will probably be surpassing his skill level in a week. 

Steve finishes tying the right skate and claps his hands on his knees as he stands back up. “Alright, are you ready, Theo?”

Theo nods again and takes Steve’s outstretched hands. His balance is wobbly on the thin blades, and Tony’s heart melts a little more at Steve’s encouraging words as they walk toward the door of the rink. Steve helps Theo get onto the ice and holds him steady when he almost falls right away. 

Tony stands with Noah, walking closer to the rink so he can get a better view as his husband takes their toddler for his first of probably many trips around the ice. He sits Noah down on the lip of the boards, his back resting against Tony’s chest and blonde hair tickling Tony’s chin. Noah’s fingers wrap around his thumb, and Tony tilts his head down to kiss the top of his head. 

They make it around the rink only once with Theo holding onto Steve’s hands before he loudly declares that he can do it on his own. Tony exchanges an amused glance with Steve at this, and he knows that they’re both thinking the same thing. He inherited Tony’s determination and strong will, and they’ve both joked more than once that Theo is just a miniaturized carbon copy of Tony. 

Steve lets go of one of Theo’s hands, keeping the other to help him balance for now. Theo only lets that go on for so long before he insists again that he can do it by himself. 

The first time he falls down, Tony’s heart lurches. Until he pushes himself back up right away and calls out, “I’m okay!”

Tony laughs and holds his other son a little closer, suddenly aware that it won’t be much longer until he’s out there, too. At seven months old, he’s just barely crawling, but he knows all too well that the time will fly. Soon enough there will be first steps, first words, first birthdays. He wants to freeze time and keep them this young forever, but at the same time he’s excited for everything coming in their future. So he savors every moment, holds them as much as he can while they still want it, and takes so many pictures that even Steve thinks he’s a little insane for it. 

Noah doesn’t give him much of a chance to stay pensive. He makes a gurgling sound, forming bubbles of spit with his mouth that inevitably drip down onto Tony’s hand. It’s his new favorite activity, and the Tony of the past would have been disgusted to know that he has become completely used to being covered in saliva. But current Tony just wipes Noah’s chin with the pad of his thumb and kisses his round cheek. 

Noah looks up at him with wide blue eyes, almost identical to the ones he sees when he looks at Steve, and then promptly coughs so spit flies in his face. 

“You’re very lucky that you’re so cute,” Tony sighs, wiping his face with the hand that isn’t actively holding Noah up. Noah goes right back to making bubbles with his mouth in response, short, chubby arms flailing in his excitement.

On the ice, Theo has fallen and gotten back up at least four more times, but his balance is slowly getting better. Steve is acting as his shadow as he tries to skate forward in jerky movements, hands hovering right behind him to catch him if he falls back. The proud smile has yet to leave Steve’s face, and Tony’s grows to match it. 

He thinks again of that early date, when he wasn’t quite sure what their relationship was going to be. He was anxious back then, so worried about everything that could go wrong, getting hurt, or hurting Steve. But he knows now that there was never a reason to worry, because this right here, with Steve and their sons, is always where he was meant to be. 


	3. Steve's First Road Trip

It’s a little after three in the morning when Tony sends the text, midnight in San Jose where Steve is. The game should have ended about two hours ago, post-game interviews and team discussions long ago wrapped up for the night. Hopefully they’ve gotten back to the hotel by now, and hopefully Steve hasn’t already fallen asleep. 

He stares at the screen of his phone, made too bright by the complete darkness of the bedroom, waiting for it to ring. His own words stare back, unread.  _ I’m awake if you want to call.  _

He doesn’t ask directly for the call, doesn’t quite know how to admit that the distance is even harder now and he needs the sound of Steve’s voice to wipe away the stress of the day. Steve probably knows, though. Like Tony knows that Steve needs the phone call just as much, because he hates being away from home just as much as Tony hates his absence. 

The phone only rings once before Tony answers. 

“Hi.”

“Hey, baby,” Steve says. Just two words, and Tony’s entire body relaxes. The tension leaves his muscles, and he sinks back into his pillow. 

“How was the game?” Tony only managed to catch snippets of it, between trying to get a sleep-resistant Theo to bed and cleaning up the mess in the penthouse. He knows they won, and Bucky scored one of the goals, but he missed most of it. 

“Good, I guess. Could’ve gone better, but at least we won,” Steve replies. “How are things there? Did you get Theo to bed okay?”

Tony’s tired enough that he forgets that Steve can’t see it when he nods. “Yeah, everything’s good. Well, he spit up on my face earlier and some of it got in my mouth, so I haven’t quite forgiven him for that yet, but everything else is good.” 

Steve laughs, “That’s gross. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“It was not ideal,” Tony confirms. “Are you at the hotel now?”

“Got in a little bit ago. Didn’t think you’d be up still, or I would have texted first. Theo wake you?”

“A while ago, yeah. He didn’t really want to go back down for me. I think he misses you.”

Steve sighs, and Tony can see his face in his head. There’s probably a slight downturn to his lips, shoulders slumped and a deep crease between his brows. Tony wishes he was there to smooth the negative feelings away. Or better yet, he wishes Steve was back home with them. 

But that’s a selfish wish, one he doesn’t let himself think about for more than a second. Afterall, he was the one that encouraged Steve to keep playing hockey, not to retire early when his contract was up. It was the right decision. He knows that Steve wouldn’t really be happy if he quit while he was still in the height of his career, if he gave up everything he’s worked so hard for all of these years. Steve must have known it, too, because he renewed his contract with the Islanders once Tony managed to convince him that he was truly okay with it. For now, Tony is perfectly fine being the sole parent during road trips and away games, even though he still wishes Steve was by his side for it. 

“I miss him, too. So much more than I even thought was possible,” Steve says, voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t think it would be this hard.”

“I know, baby. It’s a little rough here, too,” Tony says gently. “But we’ll get better at it with time. We’ll - we’ll learn how to deal with it. It’s only the first one. Makes sense that it’s harder than the rest.”

There’s the sound of Steve clearing his throat, followed by him saying, “Yeah, I’m sure we will. Still sucks right now, though.”

“Still sucks,” Tony agrees. He sighs, then tries to inject some lightness back into the conversation. “But hey, on the bright side, I managed not to get peed on today.”

Steve laughs, “Oh, yeah?”

Tony is notoriously bad at changing diapers, but he’s trying his best. He just hasn’t quite figured out how he’s supposed to do everything he needs to do with only two hands. By calculations he needs at least three, and it’s put him on the receiving end of an accident more than once, when Theo decides that nature is calling again while the diaper is being taken off. 

“That’s probably why he spit up in my mouth, though. Covered me in a bodily fluid one way or another. I think the kid has it out for me.”

“I’m sure it was on purpose. Probably revenge for that frog costume you put him in the other day,” Steve jokes in return. 

“Hey, that costume was adorable.”

“No arguments from me, but I’m just saying if looks could kill, you’d be a goner, babe.”

Tony grins, “Well, next year when he’s talking he can pick out his own Halloween costume. But it will never be as cute as that frog.”

“He’d make a really cute pumpkin.”

Tony lights up completely at the suggestion. “Oh my God, I’m buying that tomorrow.”

“Oh, no,” Steve laughs. “Don’t put him in it until I get back, though.”

“I won’t as long as you’re okay with the fact that I might end up buying an entire store’s worth of costumes.”

Steve hums, “There is only one way to know which one is the cutest.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page here.”

“You know I think Scott’s kid went as a bumblebee one year.”

Tony gasps, “Do you think they have that? I need to see him in that.”

“I’m sure we can find one somewhere.”

Tony pulls the phone away from his ear, tapping the icon that puts it on speaker, and begins searching through baby halloween costumes. 

“You’re looking right now, aren’t you?” Steve asks, sounding amused. 

“Oh, God, babe, you should see this duck costume. He would look so cute in this.”

Steve laughs again, “Honey, you should really go back to sleep.”

“So you don’t want me to get this monkey costume? I think he’d like the tail.”

“No, you should definitely get that.”

Tony yawns as he clicks onto the next page, and he thinks that Steve is right about that sleeping suggestion. He closes the site for now and settles back into the pillows. “We’ll try them on him when you get back. Actually, you’ll put them on him, because I’m not getting revenge vomit in my mouth again.”

“I don’t really think our four month old is all that vengeful, baby doll.”

“You didn’t hear him laugh after it happened, Steve.”

Steve yawns this time, and it spurs another one out of Tony. Now that he’s heard the sound of Steve’s voice, he feels like he actually has a chance at falling asleep, rather than tossing and turning listlessly. 

“Call me in the morning?” Tony asks. 

“First thing,” Steve promises. “I love you. Give Theo an extra kiss for me.”

“I will. We love you, too.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

“Night, honey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was browsing through baby halloween costumes for this one, and Tony's reactions are 100% based on my own.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@ifmywishescametrue](https://ifmywishescametrue.tumblr.com)


End file.
